rambling talk; vague remarks
Uncommon literary word for idle, aimless, or vague talk; often carries a poetic or old-fashioned feel. In modern Japanese, とりとめのない話 or たわごと are more common.
The old man just kept repeating rambling talk.
His talk was vague remarks, and I couldn't grasp the point.
Literary kanji spelling; the word itself is uncommon and mostly found in older or poetic contexts.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling sometimes seen in older texts.
The derivation is uncertain. 漫ろ (そぞろ) is an old adverb/noun meaning 'aimlessly' or 'without reason', and 言 (こと > ごと) means 'word' or 'talk'. The compound likely arose in classical Japanese for idle or vague speech.